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Spark, May 2018 - Learning from First Day School

Share Your Info!

Share your meeting’s news, announcements, and upcoming events with the rest of the Yearly Meeting through InfoShare, our digital newsletter. The deadline for the September issue is August 13th. Send your items to [email protected]. Don’t get InfoShare? Contact the Yearly Meeting office to get yourself on our email mailing list.

Around Our Yearly Meeting

Around Our Yearly Meeting

Editor's Note

Everyone is invited to write for Spark. Articles are a form of ministry. Do you feel led to write? Let your light shine!

Upcoming Spark themes:

September:Spirit-lead Structures. New ideas about organizational structure are opening in our Yearly Meeting. What would an ideal Quaker organization look like? Where are changes needed? What’s still working—or, what needs to remain? And how do we stay focused on Spirit?

Upcoming Events

FGC Gathering

University of Toledo, Ohio

July 1–7, 2018

Registration for the Gathering is now open. Go to fgcquaker.org/connect/gathering for all program information. The Gathering is a great place for families with children and teens. Each age group finds opportunities for spiritual growth and community AND there is plenty of family time as well! May 31st is the deadline for children and youth (birth–8th grade) to register. For more about the Junior Gathering visit www.fgcquaker.org/connect/gathering/programs-and-events/children-and-teens

Continuing Revolution: Building Intentional Lives

A six-day intensive conference for young adults

June 1–6, 2018, at Pendle Hill

How can we make sure that our lives and our actions align with those values we care about most deeply? This year’s young adult conference will look specifically at four areas that impact us as young adults: work, love and relationships, justice, and spiritual practice. For more visit pendlehill.org/learn/continuing-revolution/

Mary Foster Cadbury: A Quaker Life

On June 24, 2018, at Poughkeepsie Meeting (249 Hooker Ave. Poughkeepsie, NY), Mary Foster Cadbury will gather in worship with Friends to share her thoughts, memories, experiences and reflections on her life as a Friend among Friends. She has been a member of three different yearly meetings (New England, Western Illinois, New York) and a sojourning member of Ohio Yearly Meeting. She is a past clerk of New York Yearly Meeting.

Mary has had an intermittent career as a teacher of high school math, including at three Quaker schools. She served on many Quaker committees, often as clerk, and found clerking skills useful in teaching, in League of Women Voter’s work and in prison ministry. She learned early on to show up, to contribute, and to always be thinking of better ways of doing things.

Mary Foster grew up in Rhode Island in a Quaker family, originally as a member of Nantucket Meeting, but worshiping in Providence. These meetings were part of the Wilburite branch of Friends. She was married to Christopher Cadbury from 1950 to his passing in 2010. She has one daughter, Vivian and two grandsons.

Meeting for worship begins at 10 a.m. At the rise of meeting Friends will share a meal and then return to worship during which Mary will share with us for about 30 minutes and then allow for a period of Questions and Answers for another 30 minutes or so. All New York Yearly Meeting Friends and members of the community are encouraged to join us to learn from an accomplished and well-seasoned Friend. Mary asks that Friends bring questions in advance to make the gathering as interactive as possible.

For more information contact: Fred Doneit, or Don Badgley, or Solange Muller

Quaker Study Tour of Bolivia

July 26–August 1, 2018

We’ll explore Bolivia’s history and culture from the pre-Inca traditions to the emergence of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. We’ll visit those who have dramatically improved their lives with the educational support of trip sponsor Bolivian Quaker Education Fund (BQEF) and the development projects of Quaker Bolivia Link (QBL). We’ll learn about the cultural revolution taking place and make warm personal connections with local Friends. For more information, a flyer with the itinerary, and registration, go to www.bqef.org/?q=node/717

The Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC)... is a grassroots network of Friends holding a sense of stewardship for life-long Quaker faith formation through religious education. We include Friends from all branches of our international Quaker family. We welcome all Friends involved in religious education. Join us in forming a community of practice to share resources, skills, gifts, questions and insights, and to support each other in the ministry of Quaker faith formation.

Survey on Institutional Racism

Please help Friends General Conference by completing their Institutional Assessment on Racism survey online by May 30, 2018. Go to surveymonkey.com/r/FGC_IA

Upcoming Powell House Conferences and Events

Powell House is the NYYM retreat and conference center in Old Chatham, NY.
Visit powellhouse.org.

Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels

a Powell House Book DiscussionSaturday, May 19, 2:00–7:00 p.m.

Read or RE-read this book, and then join us as we discuss the author’s ideas and their impact on today’s faith communities! We’ll gather at 2:00 p.m., meet in large and small groups to explore the themes; eat supper and then discuss a bit more!

Earthsong 7th–12th Grade

May 25–27, 2018

Join us for the year-end celebration of our community and of our going-out-into-the-world seniors. There will be workshops, festive foods, large group games, a dress-up dinner plus a full and fabulous cabaret.

Youth Program Reunion
for the classes of 2014–2017

June 7–8, 2018 (Thurs. noon to Fri. evening)

Reconnect. Rejuvenate. Sing a song, share a laugh, exchange a massage. You have the option to stay for the “A Year At Hogwarts” conference.

A Year At Hogwarts

June 8–10, 2018

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at the Powell House Adjunct School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Term will include: Welcoming Feast, Sorting, Potions, History of Magic, Divination, Herbology, Quidditch championship, awarding of the House Cup, and viewing of films. Recommended for adults and children ages 8 and up.

Camping in the Maze
3rd–5th grade with a parent

July 6–8, 2018

Camp out. Cook out. Play games. Take hikes. Share stories. Swim in the pond. Enjoy one another and the great outdoors. We’ll look into the mystery of the night sky and think about how we got here and where we might go.

Jamboree 6th–8th Grade

July 6–8, 2018

It’s a jam-making, music-making, trail-blazing, fire-blazing good time! We hope you can join us!

And SAVE THE DATE for NYYM Summer Sessions!

Summer Sessions will be at Silver Bay on Lake George again this year, July 22-28, 2018. View the Summer Sessions page for links to the week-at-a-glance schedule, registration fees, and room rates.

News

Friends Attend Conference on World Mission and Evangelism

Four Friends, pictured below, represented Friends United Meeting at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, held March 8–13 in Arusha, Tanzania:
Eden Grace, Director of Global Ministries at FUM; Emily Provance from New York Yearly Meeting, whose ministry helps meetings in North America identify and dismantle barriers to outreach; Dorcas Otieno from Chavakali Yearly Meeting, whose ministry as a church planter in Tanzania has borne fruit in seven new churches in the Mwanza region;
and John Moru Losike from Turkana Friends Mission, whose ministry of leadership has helped Turkana Friends to plant numerous churches and also to reach out to refugees from around Africa.

Friends Join with the March For Our Lives

Some Scarsdale Quakers and f/Friends were able to participate in the Westchester County “March for Our Lives” held Saturday afternoon, March 24, 2018, as part of the national event. On the plaza at the edge of the rally, the League of Women Voters registered new voters. The young people were passionate and inspiring. Everyone left feeling that this time there will be change! —Susan Weisfeld

Stevens Fund Applications Open

The Stevens Fund is a small fund held by NYYM Trustees in order to assist retired or disabled Friends who are in need; often, but not exclusively, pastors and ministers. The next list of distributions will be decided by the Ministry and Pastoral Care committee at Summer Sessions, July 22–28. Those who would like to apply please request an application from David Herendeen,
or Anita Paul. Applications due July 1.

Witness Coordinating Committee supports and oversees New York Yearly Meeting’s witness to the world both financially and spiritually. The energy for the concerns of the various committees is strong, and there are resources to support them. For a full description of the position: nyym.org/sites/default/files/2018-Witness-clerk-search.pdf; if interested or if you have questions, email Mary Eagleson.

Notices

New Members

Richard Beck—Brooklyn

Walter Borkowski—Manasquan

Charlotte Hanson­—Brooklyn

Michael Hanson—Brooklyn

Irem Konur—Matinecock

Grace, Marta, Roya & Scott Pourshalchi—Matinecock

Clare Redden—Cornwall

Joshua Talbot—Elmira

Transfers

Ann Schillinger, from South Berkshire (NEYM) to Old Chatham.

Deaths

Harry S. Hoffman, Jr., member of Bulls Head-Oswego, on December 26, 2017.